STATISTICS related to mental health in Oklahoma are discouraging. Turning them around is a daunting task. Telemedicine is helping make a dent.

STATISTICS related to mental health in Oklahoma are discouraging. Turning them around is a daunting task. Telemedicine is helping make a dent.

Oklahoma is a big state that can use more doctors in every field. Certainly that’s the case in mental health. A recent study by the Kaiser Family Foundation placed Oklahoma among the bottom 10 states for the population’s access to mental health professionals (Kaiser found only one state, Rhode Island, with enough mental health workers).

However, the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services makes considerable use of video-conferencing technology to deliver services across the state. The agency oversees 141 telemedicine sites through its Oklahoma TeleHealth Network. During a presentation to a legislative interim study last fall, Director Terri White noted that the agency has been cited by the American Telemedicine Association as the largest network of its kind that specializes in behavioral health.

There are many reasons to provide mental health services wherever and however possible. The state ranks No. 2 nationally in the number of its residents who suffer from mental illness. According to the ODMHSAS, mental disorders are the third-leading cause of chronic disease in Oklahoma, behind pulmonary conditions and hypertension. Far too many adults and children who need treatment services aren’t getting them. Consequently the state suffers from a high suicide rate, too much abuse of drugs and alcohol, and crowded prisons.

Videoconferencing is particularly useful in rural parts of the state, where doctor shortages tend to be more acute than they are in urban areas. And it’s making an impact.

OMDHSAS says it has more than 500 licensed users on the TeleHealth Network. In fiscal year 2012, about 26,000 Oklahomans received mental health or substance abuse help via the network. In FY 2013, the number was 33,840, an increase of 28 percent. The agency says it saved $3.4 million in FY 2013 by delivering services via telemedicine.

In a recent article about the growing use of videoconferencing by states, stateline.org pointed out that the supply of psychiatrists is expected to dwindle in the years ahead because more are retiring than are coming into the field. "Access to psychiatric input remains a crisis across the country," said Kenneth Duckworth, medical director for the National Alliance on Mental Illness. "Telepsychiatry represents an opportunity to extend the reach of psychiatrists."

White put it this way in her presentation to lawmakers: "Our future is telehealth. It is working to meet the needs of the people of Oklahoma."

This state faces tremendous challenges in the area of mental health. Matching the demand for help with an adequate supply of providers may never happen, given the size of the chasm that exists today. But the Oklahoma TeleHealth Network is making inroads. Any gains, even gradual ones, are worth noting and encouraging.